Letter: Deadly weapons easy to get

Friday

Jul 27, 2012 at 12:01 AMJul 27, 2012 at 1:38 AM

Did I actually read in the Tuesday State Journal-Register that congressional candidate Rodney Davis, when asked about the shooting in Colorado, worked in a reference to Obamacare? Don’t let a terrible tragedy interfere with your talking points about the election or anything.

Staff reports

Did I actually read in the Tuesday State Journal-Register that congressional candidate Rodney Davis, when asked about the shooting in Colorado, worked in a reference to Obamacare? Don’t let a terrible tragedy interfere with your talking points about the election or anything.

Unfortunately, his opponent, David Gill, had an equally ridiculous response, stating that assailants will “think twice” before a violent attack if guns remain in the hands of “law-abiding citizens.”

Presumably, Gill’s statement was made before the shooter appeared in court on Monday, as he did not appear to be the type of individual to whom this type of “deterrent effect” would matter.

The other problem with this premise is that, prior to about midnight last Friday, the shooter was apparently a law-abiding citizen himself. In fact, many of the people who have used guns to exterminate their children, wives, ex-wives, girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, neighbors or co-workers that we seem to read about on a daily basis were also law-abiding citizens — before they weren’t.

It is far too easy in this country to get access to deadly weapons, and restricting that access is a topic that is rarely even discussed in today’s society. If restricting access to guns isn’t at least part of the solution to preventing these all-too-frequent tragedies, then what is?

— Mark Conyer, Chatham

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